I would tend to think this would be a percentage of the grosses , and would then be dependent on the shows income . As the shows income is related to ratings plus income from licensing , then it will be a to Simon’s best interest to be a sharp and entertaining judge.

As American Idol dominates the ratings , their income from advertising will also exponentially increase. If Judges chose contestants that will catch not only the fancy but the rabid support of the viewers, then their licensing income will also increase.

The figure of $144 million will most likely be the cap or maximum that Simon can gain. There is probably also a minimal amount or a guaranteed earnings which is probably around 30% to max of 50% more than the last contract rate.

But the larger thing is the money. I’m just disgusted by it. We’re living in a period when millions of people can’t afford health insurance, and some can’t afford health care even if they do have insurance. Unemployment is high, people are losing their homes. And though Simon Cowell is certainly not responsible for the Wall Street mania that led to this, the culture of excess is disgusting under these circumstances.

Just as the absurd salaries that bankers and drug company CEOs and sports stars make me nuts, the celebrity gold rush has just gotten out of hand. What does Simon do with a salary that’s a thousand times what most people earn in a year of hard work? And what are we all paying to advertisers or whomever to make that salary possible?

The values here are seriously out of whack…. :thumbdown_tb:

Simon is the only one who gives the hard truth and still gets away with it.

Well, there’s a certain amount of truth to that. Was it not Simon who reportedly said that, as the season progresses, contestants should not expect fair judging? So-o-o, true Simon. But, why put limits on it?! You certainly didn’t last season!

And I agree that Simon is not very good at sussing out contestants who are diamonds in the rough or people who need a little time to find their groove on stage. (Remember? That’s what the semi-finals used to be all about before they turned them into “one strike and your out-a-here!”) Just look at the difference in Cook from “Happy Together” to “Hello.” However if you’re polished and “plant like” and ready to go, Simon’s your man!

I believe he should be paid more than the other judges, but that’s insane. Plus, he’s been increasingly bored and irrelevant the past couple of years.

That’s a disgusting amount of money. All that to be mean and make fun of Paula? Wow.

I already knew the outcome beforehand, Adam and Danny, if the judges had their way. But then, along came Kris’ ¦ :::grin:::

Ryan accurately predicted the Top 4 on Top 13 week on Oprah, March 7th 2-1/2 months before the finale?:

http://www.rickey.org/?tag=oprah :bigsurprise_ee:

I think Simon should get a large sum of that money as a BONUS, forcing him to actually care again about the show. He now needs to redeem himself after Lil’, Megan, JASMINE!!! WTF, and to some extent Danny.

Then again’ ¦.Simon has always been a bit off the mark. He was lukewarm about Kelly, passed on Daughtry AND Cook, and never got Allison (or Kris).

I agree. I don’t think Simon is good at all at picking out the diamonds in the rough. He thought Kelly Clarkson was forgettable; he wouldn’t have even put Daughtry through to Hollywood; I can’t remember if he voted to put Cook through to Hollywood, but I know for sure that he voted to kick him out during the first H’wood round. So, yeah, I don’t really have much respect for his ability to pick out genuine, bankable musical talent.

I think the AI has gotten too big and pompous for itself, forgetting that its basic premise is a singing competition for young hopefuls and not a reality drama show about the antics of a group of judges or drama!tic! contestants

ITA.

If you don’t have the kind of personality to stay confident and keep going despite all the chattering and pressure, then the pop star life may not be for you.

I can see that…but he let Susan Boyle go on and she’s obviously unfit for the limelight, so while it’s maybe a beneficial “side-effect” I don’t think it’s Simon’s main goal.

I dunno. He was just “off” this year. IMO he certainly doesn’t merit a pay raise like THAT if we’re going by his performance this year.

Perhaps Simon does weed out some of those who may not be able to handle critiques. I’m not saying this is a fact, but I can see how this could work.

There might be some truth to that. As we have all seen, no matter who you are someone somewhere will always have something very harsh to say about you if you are in the public eye. If you don’t have the kind of personality to stay confident and keep going despite all the chattering and pressure, then the pop star life may not be for you. That may be one of the reasons 19 tends to pass on people we all think were sho-ins every year, and sign people we all say WTF too. LOL. Maybe some of those people are the ones who help up the best.

Kris and Adam seemed to let most critiques roll off their, (imo esp. Kris since he received more) and press on to the following week to be even better. Even Adam in his intro vid from top13 said he didn’t think he would have been able to handle this kind of pressure some years earlier.

I think the AI has gotten too big and pompous for itself, forgetting that its basic premise is a singing competition for young hopefuls and not a reality drama show about the antics of a group of judges or drama!tic! contestants

Thank you! The charm of the show is to find undiscovered talent…to see kids plucked from obscurity and progress each week w. more confidence. Last season was all about the judges and trying to outdo/outjoke each other….and their obvious lack of interest in the show resulted in their OFF BASE critiques.

I think Simon should get a large sum of that money as a BONUS, forcing him to actually care again about the show. He now needs to redeem himself after Lil’, Megan, JASMINE!!! WTF, and to some extent Danny.

Then again….Simon has always been a bit off the mark. He was lukewarm about Kelly, passed on Daughtry AND Cook, and never got Allison (or Kris).

Let’s be honest, people liked Simon because of his brutal honesty. Last year he was not honest at all. It pained him to give Allison or Kris a compliment.

Stick a fork in him, he’s done!!!

With Paula and Randy, being “wrong” is usually about being obtuse.
With Simon, two of his defining characteristics are his meanness and consistently narrow, trivial, out-dated musical taste.

These two characteristics would make him close to useless in the music biz off-camera, but on camera they have morphed from a bug into a feature. The fact that he dislikes most music and is interested only in marketability means he feels emotionally unrestrained in unleashing rude, memorable, sometimes funny, critiques.

And ironically, the fact that Cowell is so difficult to please, tempermental, bored, disinterested, and punishing has had the effect of making his occasional praise all the more sought after and valued.

And that’s been a whole part of the fascination he held for the audience. When he turns his harsh remarks on a poor or mediocre performance, we kind of enjoy seeing it taken apart.

But we’re historically even more sucked in when he turns his nastiness on a worthy or even great performance. Because it’s so unfair and horrible! Our outrage is part of the emotional drama that addicts us to the show and keeps us dialling. In the same way that dramas need villains–”Lost” is nothing without its heartless, evil Ben–Idol has thrived on subjecting its lovable, talented kids to Cowell’s myriad injustices so that we could become all the more invested in pulling for them.

That, however, was the Cowell “premise” of the past. The problem is, it’s long-since become a schtick. Repeating the exact same act on three different shows (Idol, X Factor, Britain’s Got Talent) in an era of widely circulated video clips, it’s apparent how cheap and thin his routine really is. There isn’t a facial expression, fake burst of indignation, fake moment of sincerity, that hasn’t been recycled over and over again on his shows. He can scarcely be bothered to make the puppet motions on the American show, forgetting the names of contestants, talking during the performances, not bothering to finish critiques so he can get in some petty quip with Abdul or Seacrest.

If TV rand like major league sports, 19E would decide this contract on a declining, past-his-peak, can’t-be-bothered star was way overpriced, and find out what fresh talent it could buy with its money. Since it’s broadcast TV, with its inherent conservatism, they’re likely to try to hang on to their formula till it dies off, even if it means handing half the profits to Cowell. Good deal for him, the utter twat.

I could barely stand him myself this year, and I am a Simon fangirl, tight tees and all…he needs to step it up, or he will make himself obsolete. Anytime Paula is more lucid, makes you wanna go hmmmm.

But still, if one thing could change next year, it would be to have more time with the contestants (either backstory, especially in the early rounds) or actual SINGING (what a concept!) than wasting time with the judges stupid antics. Those few middle rounds where they kept running over time-wise were just ridciculous = we had shorter and shorter songs, but more and more judge ramblings that weren’t particularly amusing or useful.

I do agree that Simon has a very good ear. I just wish he would have showed more interest and commented more this season.

If the show is 4 judges next season, and it sounds like it will be, then I am all for a 1.5 hours. They did not end on time once all season. If they have to add time to have them end on time then I’m all for it. And maybe we will get more songs out of the Idols later in the competition. (though my fast forward on my dvr will just be busier I’m sure).

I wonder if the time has come to say goodbye to him…

Simon has a good ear. I just can’t stand how rude he is to contestants sometimes.

im pretty sure if they tried hard enough they could find someone that would be a decent replacement. the replacement would cause buzz the first few episodes to see how/if he/she could replace simon and then if they picked someone good the person would still hold peoples’ attention on their own accord after that. there’s no way he is worth 100 million. that’s just ridiculous.

cookcricket
Jun 30th, 2009 at 11:36 am
So is Simon officially now the highest paid BSer in entertainment?

I would think so, cookcricket. Maybe now he will enhance his wardrobe?

Do they not notice that they are already getting made fun of to the max.?

That is a giant boat load of money, Simon does not need it. I’d say $36 mil is pretty darn good to me for just judging bad and good singers, to have to have his butt in the studio after each commercial and before the show starts at 5pm in his time, and to come up with a top 13 idea or to send 2 people home.. or to decide to have a save in which is only used on the cheese or for as a last resort rather than to save someone actually worthy just because it would have been used early on… I think you can picture who I’m talking about here.

There is no reason for Simon to leave. He doesn’t need all that money what is he gonna do with it store it under his pillow until it’s time for him to buy a new ferrari?

Money-hungry that’s what it is. It’s pretty bad when you hear more in the media about the show’s judges leaving the show because they’re poopies rather than a contestan’s success story.